Egypt: Al-Azhar Rebellion– Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafi’i Strongly Warns General A-Sisi

The institution of Al-Azhar is one of he oldest and most respected university in the Arab and Muslim world.  So, when it speaks, people listen carefully.  And yesterday, one of its most respect religious scholars, Sheikh Dr. Hassan Al-Shafi’i senior advisor to Sheikh Al-Azhar, delivered a strong worded statement to SCAF, General Al-Sis, and the interim government. It is also important to know that Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafi’i was tortured, jailed and silenced under the Nasser regime. So, he is not a stranger to politics, and this is why, i think, he was tasked to this deliver this very strong warning to General Al-Sisi. Basically, So not only does Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafi’i have street creed, but he also has academic and religious creed.

So did Sheikh Dr. Hassan Al-Shafi’i say? For those of you who understand Arabic, you can watch the video below. His statement is clear, detailed and lengthy.

However for those who don’t understand Arabic, well this is what Sheikh said in a bullet point format:

• He accused the military of being solely responsible for the massacre of 50 unarmed pro-Morsi;
• He stated that he had 10 eye-witnesses who are ready to testify under oath that they saw the military and the policy fire first without any provocations;
• He stated that he had 10 eye-witnesses who are ready to testify under oath there was no attacks or guns or firing on the military and police;
• He demanded the independent investigation;
• He demanded financial reparations for the families of the victims
• He was surprised by the arrogance of General Al-Sisi statement post massacre in which he didn’t talk or acknowledged the victims;
• He accused General A-Sisi for misleading the institution of Al-Azhar by promising that peaceful protesters would be protected;
• He refused an offer made by General A-Sisi to him to head a reconciliation and negotiation committee;
• He demanded a stop to all arbitrary and illegal arrests of Muslim Brotherhoods;
• He demanded the release of Morsi from prison arguing that “he committed no crime”;
• He demanded the release of all political prisoners and those arrest post-Morsi coup;
• He demanded a rapid return to the political process;
• He strongly warned the military and the policy that they should stop all coercive tactics and methods—the so-called deep state– which were popular under Mubarak, Sadat and Nasser;
• He strongly warned the military and the policy that the deep state would only radicalize the MB and push them underground;
• He hinted that if these demands are not meet he might openly declare his opposition to SCAF, General Al-Sisi, and the interim president.

Clearly this is a very positive development for the MB. Receiving the not-so-veiled support of a respected religious scholar like Sheikh Al-Shafi’i is a boot. It will energize the base, but it will also cast on General Al-Sisi a very bad light. Al-Azhar is a very respected institution in Egypt. It is revered by every Egyptian–secular or religious. It’s the pride of the nation, and as such it has a strong impact and influence on the Egyptian society, and specifically the middle class. If that middle class defects in mass and starts throwing its support behind the MB cause, Al-Sisi would be forced into a corner.  I strongly believe that General Al-Sisi has a very small window of opportunity to operate before Egypt descends completely into a long and protected civil strife. And that window of opportunity is not in months, but in weeks.